Bookings opened on Wednesday for Early Years Student-Led Conferences in our new revised format as a response to feedback from both families and teachers. These will take place in Week 9, on Wednesday 22 March and Thursday 23 March.

All families should have received an email last week outlining how these conferences will work, and some of the detail is included here again for your convenience.

How will this work?

• Students will continue to take a lead role in the conference setting.
• To begin each conference, students will independently show parents around the classroom, including their own workspace, and share examples of their learning.
• This will look different from Prep through to Year 4 and may include showing you how they learn with concrete materials, a work sample to discuss, sharing some bookwork, or a personal-social goal they are working on. This will be the first 10 minutes of their Student Led Conference.
• Following this, students and parents will have the opportunity to sit with the teacher to ask any questions and discuss progress. This will occur during the second 10 minutes of the Student Led Conference
• 20 minutes will be allocated for the Student Led Conference (including sharing of learning and follow up question time) and both of these times are essential.  Only 10 minutes will show on your Sentral booking for the conference.
• All activities will take place in the student’s classroom, with one student engaged in sharing their learning with parents whilst another student and parent will be engaged in question time with the teacher. An example of this is:

3:50: Student A – independent student led discussion / Student B - Student, parent, teacher discussion time

4:00: Student C – independent student led discussion / Student A - Student, parent, teacher discussion time

4:10: Student D – independent student led discussion / Student C - Student, parent, teacher discussion time

What do I need to do to support my child?

• Book a time through Parent Portal (Sentral for Parents). Bookings will open on Wednesday 8 March at 7:00am and will close at 5:00pm on Tuesday 21 March.
• Let your child know you are an interested participant in the Student Led Conference and are looking forward to seeing their classroom, hearing about what they are learning, and meeting with their teacher.
• Come with your child 5 minutes prior to the actual conference time and wait outside the classroom for the teacher to invite you in
• Listen and look – Your child will be excited to show you what they are learning.
• Prompt to support your child if necessary – your child’s teacher will have prompt cards to help you with this. These will be on display in the rooms. Some ideas for prompts are included at the end of this letter.
• Enjoy the opportunity to see your child in his/her learning environment.
• Celebrate your child’s progress to date.

Important things to remember

Your child is integral to this process. All students have been preparing and reflecting on their learning and are excited to welcome you into their classroom. If you cannot attend, please arrange for another significant adult in your child’s life to come to the conference.

Student-Led Conferences will occur again in Term 3. Formal written reports, with a focus on achievement against the Australian Curriculum achievement standards, will be available twice per year as a written report in Terms 2 and 4. 

We are very excited to welcome you to the inaugural Early Years College Bush Dance and Family Celebration. Students have been very enthusiastic while practicing their year level dances as well as dances that will be performed by the whole Early Years cohort! They are eager to show you what they have learnt this term and we are looking forward to using this opportunity to bring our families together for a social gathering.

When: Friday 24 March 2023

Where: Main Oval (Christmas Carols Location)

Time: 5:30 – 7:00pm

Who: Your whole family is welcome to attend.

What to Bring: BYO a rug and a picnic of your choice to celebrate a wonderful start to 2023.

What to Wear: Students may choose to wear free dress OR a costume of choice appropriate to their year level dance (costumes are not mandatory).

Softdrinks and poppers will be available for purchase, with cash preferred. Please bring some cash along to support the cultural initiatives of the College.

Please remember this is not a drop and go event, it is a stay and mingle event! Parents are responsible for their children at the event.

We cannot wait to see you there with your picnics packed and your dancing shoes on!

Parking – please be considerate.

Drop off and Pick Up can be some of the most frustrating times of the school day – for all of us!! Please be considerate of others. Simply following the rules sets an appropriate example for our students, ensures smooth, safe flow of traffic for all, and eliminates any chance of unwanted  fines. A reminder once again that the first 10 parks in front of Prep are a

LOADING ZONE – 2 MINUTES ONLY. THIS IS A DROP AND GO AREA.

This means it is NOT a place to park if you need to get out of your car. If you do intend to get out of the car, please show consideration to the rest of the community by parking in a different area, as per our regular parking updates.

Katrina Walton

Assistant Principal Early Years